United States General Accounting Office Report to the Honorable Bob Barr GAO House of Representatives June 2002 THE WHITE HOUSE Allegations of Damage During the 2001 Presidential Transition a GAO-02-360 Contents Letter 1 Background 1 Scope and Methodology 3 Results 6 Conclusions 19 Recommendations for Executive Action 20 Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 20 White House Comments 21 GSA Comments 34 Appendixes Appendix I: EOP and GSA Staff Observations of Damage, Vandalism, and Pranks and Comments from Former Clinton Administration Staff 36 Missing Items 38 Keyboards 44 Furniture 49 Telephones 56 Fax Machines, Printers, and Copiers 66 Trash and Related Observations 67 Writing on Walls and Prank Signs 73 Office Supplies 75 Additional Observations Not on the June 2001 List 76 Appendix II: Observations Concerning the White House Office Space During Previous Presidential Transitions 77 Observations of EOP, GSA, and NARA Staff During Previous Transitions 77 Observations of Former Clinton Administration Staff Regarding the 1993 Transition 79 News Report Regarding the Condition of White House Complex during Previous Transitions 80 Appendix III: Procedures for Vacating Office Space 81 Appendix IV: Comments from the White House 83 Appendix V: GAO’s Response to the White House Comments 161 Underreporting of Observations 161 Underreporting of Costs 177 Additional Details and Intentional Acts 185 Statements Made by Former Clinton Administration Staff 196 Page i GAO-02-360 The White House Contents Past Transitions 205 Other 208 Changes Made to the Report 213 Appendix VI: Comments from the General Services Administration 214 Tables Table 1: Estimated Costs of Replacing Damaged Keyboards 48 Abbreviations EEOB Eisenhower Executive Office Building EOP Executive Office of the President GSA General Services Administration NARA National Archives and Records Administration NEOB New Executive Office Building OA Office of Administration ONDCP Office of National Drug Control Policy WHCA White House Communications Agency Page ii GAO-02-360 The White House A United States General Accounting Office Washington, D.C. 20548 June 7, 2002 Leter The Honorable Bob Barr House of Representatives Dear Mr. Barr: This report responds to your June 4, 2001, request that we review alleged damage at the White House during the 2001 presidential transition. We agreed to determine (1) whether damage, vandalism, or pranks occurred in the White House and the adjacent Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB) during the transition by obtaining the observations of Executive Office of the President (EOP) staff and preparers of White House office space during the transition and reviewing any available documentation, as well as obtaining the comments of former Clinton administration staff; (2) to the extent possible, how the 2001 presidential transition compared with previous presidential transitions in terms of damage, vandalism, or pranks; and (3) what steps, if any, should be taken to help prevent and document any vandalism during future presidential transitions. Background On January 29, 2001, you wrote us that you had become increasingly concerned about media reports of damage to the White House and the EEOB that was discovered by the incoming Bush administration and asked that we investigate whether damage may have been deliberately caused by former Clinton administration staff. We subsequently asked EOP and the General Services Administration (GSA) whether they had any information that may be responsive to your request. On April 18, 2001, the director of the Office of Administration (OA),1 an EOP unit, wrote us a letter indicating that the White House had no record of damage that “may have been deliberately caused by employees of the prior [a]dministration” and that “.…repair records do not contain information that would allow someone to determine the cause of damage that is being repaired.” In late May and early June 2001, these allegations resurfaced in the news media and on June 4, you asked us to investigate the matter further. On June 5, 2001, the counsel to the president provided us with a list of damage that was discovered in the White House complex during the first days of the 1This official’s title is also special assistant to the president. Page 1 GAO-02-360 The White House Bush administration. In his transmittal letter, the counsel to the president said that the list “…may be responsive to your earlier request for written records documenting damage deliberately caused by employees of the prior [a]dministration….” Further, the counsel said that the list was not the result of a comprehensive or systematic investigation into the issue and should not be considered a complete record of the damage that was found. The list was prepared by OA, which provides common administrative support and services to units within the White House complex, which may include the procurement and maintenance of computers, telephones, furniture, and other personal property. OA prepared the list on the basis of the recollections of five EOP officials with responsibilities in the areas of administration, management, telephones, facilities, and supplies. It listed missing building fixtures, such as doorknobs and a presidential seal; computer keyboards with missing “W” keys; damaged and overturned furniture; telephone lines pulled from the wall; telephones with missing telephone number labels; fax machines moved to the wrong areas and a secure telephone left open with the key in it; offices left in a state of “general trashing,” including the contents of desk drawers dumped on the floor, a glass desk top smashed and on the floor, and refrigerators unplugged with spoiled food; writing on the walls; and voice mail greetings that had obscene messages. The list also indicated that six to eight 14-foot trucks were needed to recover usable supplies that had been thrown away. The EOP consists of a number of units, including the White House Office, the Office of the Vice President, the National Security Council (NSC), and OA.2 The White House Office is composed of staff who directly support and advance the president’s goals and are commonly referred to as “White House staff.” Offices of the White House Office include, but are not limited to, advance, cabinet affairs, communications, counsel, the first lady, legislative affairs, management and administration, political affairs, presidential personnel, press secretary, public liaison, and scheduling. Although White House Office staff generally leave their positions at the end of an administration, many EOP staff at agencies such as the NSC and OA hold their positions during consecutive administrations. In this report, we referred to staff who are working or worked in the White House complex during the current administration as “EOP staff” and staff who worked in 2Other EOP units include the Council of Economic Advisers, Council on Environmental Quality, Office of Homeland Security, Office of Management and Budget, Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative. Page 2 GAO-02-360 The White House the previous administration and no longer worked in the White House complex after January 20, 2001, as “former Clinton administration staff.” The White House complex consists of several buildings, including the White House, the adjacent EEOB, and the New Executive Office Building (NEOB). This report focuses on observations that were made in the West Wing of the White House and the EEOB during the transition, and not the White House residence or the NEOB. Excluding military staff, most White House Office staff work in the East and West Wings of the White House or the EEOB. GSA maintains the White House office space, including cleaning the offices and repairing the physical structure. OA asks GSA to repair furniture in the White House complex. Some EOP agencies, such as the Office of the Vice President, also handle some of their own administrative functions. The Secret Service, a unit of the Department of the Treasury, is responsible for the security of the White House complex and its occupants. Scope and To obtain information regarding observations of damage, vandalism, and pranks, we interviewed the five EOP officials who contributed to the June Methodology 2001 list (the OA director, the OA associate director for facilities management, the OA associate director for general services, the management office director, and the telephone service director); the OA associate director for information systems and technology; an on-site manager for a contractor providing telecommunications services in the White House complex; the Secret Service deputy special agent in charge, presidential protection division, White House security branch; the director of GSA’s White House service center; the chief usher for the executive residence; and four GSA cleaning crew leaders who worked in the White House complex during the transition. Page 3 GAO-02-360 The White House We also sent letters to 518 EOP staff who worked in the West Wing and EEOB during the first 3 weeks of the Bush administration, asking those who observed any damage, vandalism, or pranks during the weeks surrounding the 2001 transition to arrange a meeting with us through the Office of White House Counsel.3 We believed that staff who were in the complex during the first 3 weeks of the administration were the most likely staff to have observed damage, vandalism, or pranks. The Office of White House Counsel arranged for interviews with a total of 78 EOP staff, and an associate counsel to the president was present during our interviews with EOP staff. Of the 78 staff, 23 worked for the EOP before January 20, 2001,4 and 55 began working for the EOP on or after January 20. The interviews with EOP staff were conducted between June 2001 and May 2002. Because these interviews were conducted between 5 and 16 months after the transition, we recognize that recollections could have been imprecise.